Going Down
by Tragically Hopeless
Summary: I'm a Monster, a Freak. That's what I have been told my entire life. I've never done anything to convince them that I'm not. So, why does this... person work so hard to convince me otherwise? Because I am a Monster. And I always will be. NaruGaara
1. Prologue

**Summary: **I'm a Monster, a Freak. That's what I have been told my entire life. I've never done anything to convince them that I'm not. So, why does this... person work so hard to convince me otherwise? Because I am a Monster. And I always will be.

**Pairings: **NaruGaara, ItaSasu, SasoDei, and KakuHida.

**Rating: **T

**Genre: **Romance, Crime, Angst

**Disclaimer:** I don't Naruto, or any of the charaters. Afterall, I'm not rich, I don't have awesome drawing skills, and I've never been to Japan. That's the other person.

This just came to me randomly in the past few days, while I've been sick and bored out of my mind. This is the first story with multiple chapters that I've actually posted on here. Criticism is welcome, and don't be afraid to point out any grammer or spelling mistakes that I've made. If you don't like yaoi then don't read the story, just push the back button up in the corner there.

~.~.~.~

_Going Down  
Prologue: Kicking and Screaming_

Kicking and screaming, there was no other way that he would have gone. And that's also exactly how it had happened, that day. I didn't know him, I had never met him before in my life, and I could still tell that he wouldn't have this any other way that it had been. Well, maybe except for being dragged away by the police, that is. No one who was in their right state of mind, and even most who weren't, would want to be dragged away by the police.

It had been a typically normal day of school that day, except for him student but then again, there wasn't anything besides normal where I had gone to school. It had been his first day at the school, and he had been in the same grade as I was, grade 11, so that's how I had heard of him. He said that his name was Naruto Uzumaki but later, the principal told all of us that his name had really been Kyuubi Namikaze. He was a small blessing in disguise to the whole place, even if none of the people who had seen him or talked to him didn't' notice until years later.

I guess he inspired us, you could say, as he was dragged away from the school with his arms held behind his back, kicking, screaming, and just fighting back in general. His bright blond hair shined in the normal sunny weather of Suna, like a gem in a pile of stones. His eyes were an azure blue that sparkled with some emotion that was unknown to those of Suna, almost as if he was enjoying being dragged away by these men. In one of those moments, I figured that he would be okay, as if something would be completely wrong if he wasn't. Or… maybe I just knew that from the very beginning.

Needless to say, this "Naruto Uzumaki" (for some reason, it didn't feel right to call the blond by his real name, Kyuubi Namikaze) had interested me, in some weird way.

"Shukaku, we're going now… alright? Make sure that you don't let anyone inside while we're gone… please, for us?" Temari asked softly, from the hallway.

"Fine, I will not let anyone inside the house, I will not go out and terrorize all of Suna, I will not set the house on fire like a normal 21 year old would, and I will not do anything that you or Kankuro wouldn't do. That actually isn't that all much, if you think about it hard enough, Temari," I answered, sarcastically.

I heard her sigh from the hallway. There was no point in trying to argue with someone who was even remotely like me, never mind me, at least in Temari's eyes. Like the rest of the huge world that we lived in, she thought that I was a monster, a freak, an abomination, and any other ridiculous name that they could ever come up with, and not once had she denied it. All because of who I am, because of who I have been in the past, and because of the reason of the tattoo "love" on my forehead, for everyone to see.

No longer could I count the amount of times that Temari or Kankuro had attempted to get me to go see a psychiatrist. There was no point in going to go see one though, the world had already deemed me as a monster and a psychopath, so why did I need any sort of proof that their thinking were indeed right? Or let some creep throw me into some mental hospital, where I would never be heard from again? No, neither of those were ever going to happen.

They really, truly didn't understand what it was that I wanted. But then again, if they did understand that than I would have what I wanted… right?

"Hey, you guys, who the fuck do you think you are?! Normally, you aren't supposed to just barge to into regular people's houses, just as you please! Show some respect, man!" Kankuro shouted, obviously angry at whoever he was talking about.

"I'm sorry, sir, but we've been ordered to search this house for any people that may be linked to a disappearance a couple of days ago. There's proper reason to believe that he or she lives right in this house. The two of you may leave now, but we'll have to go through your house, whether you're here or not," an unfamiliar voice responded, in monotone.

Humph, it sounded like it was time for me to get out of here for the next few hours… or maybe even the next few days. It was never safe anywhere, these day, never mind being safe in my own home. I knew that the police were only trying to blame _something_, or rather _anything_ on me, so they could lock me up somewhere for being who I am. I knew it, my siblings knew it, the city knew it, and hell, the whole country probably knew it. They still needed a reason to lock me up though, no matter how much the whole world wanted me to be locked up for the rest of my days.

Suddenly, I heard a group of people trying to silently make their way up the set of stairs that happened to be positioned right outside my bedroom and then figured that it was probably a good idea to disappear now rather than later. The sand that had been lying peacefully around the room moved to my will, creating a small platform that I could step onto. I stepped onto it and it moved out the window the very second that I had willed it too, just like the cursed stuff always had.

It was the reason that I was an abomination. The sand was. It had always done exactly what I wanted and had always protected me. The protecting part always came first though, no matter if I wanted it too or not.

I hated it.

It was my curse and sometimes, it could be my blessing.

And eventually, if I had any say in it, it would be the death of us all.

That is, of course, if someone doesn't end up giving what I want. A person that would be willing to understand who I am and not judge me for it, a friend… or maybe even more than that...

To be continued…


	2. Chapter 1

Thanks to the one reviewer so far. Here's chapter one. There's going to be yaoi in this story so if you don't like it than don't read this story. Also, please review, even if it's just saying that you liked it or if you have some criticism or advice, either way.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. If I did then none of the Akatsuki would have died, at all.

Date: April 5, 2010

~.~.~.~

_Going Down  
Chapter 1: Cruelty and Birthdays_

Today was special. It was a day that the rest of the world had ignored for the past 22 years, simply because of what it meant to me. Today was the day that I was born on, 22 years ago on January 19th. It was my birthday. Nobody else cared about that though and the rest of the day would more likely than not go by as unnoticed as the others had gone by. Both Temari and Kankuro had known about it, I could tell that they remembered by the all too normal glares that Kankuro had been sending me from the other side of the table at breakfast, this morning. They were also going to do what they did every single year on this day, ignore my very existence (something that, at least, Kankuro had never been very good at) and mourn for the mother that I had never known.

A door slammed from somewhere downstairs, making me smirking for just a split second. This was exactly what I had been waiting for, for the past couple of hours. Slowly, I walked outside of my room and walked down the stairs to the living room. Pictures scattered the walls, each of them showing a different event that had been marked special in one way or another. I wasn't in a single one of them but over the years, I had grown used to that. Finally, I made it to my destination, the photo cabinet at the other side of the living room.

Not even a minute later, I held one of the very "precious" photos of my deceased mother, which both Temari and Kankuro had said were very important. I only looked at it for a brief moment. The she – devil looked like a pretty woman with short sandy blonde hair, warm chocolate brown eyes, and a face that always seemed to be smiling. Oh, how she had deceived this world. Finally, my anger got the better of me. Not even seconds later, the picture of the she – devil, herself, fell to the ground in several different pieces. I needed to go take a walk, badly.

I stood up from the cold hardwood floor, ignoring the pieces of the photograph that were on the floor along with the photo album that was also nearby, just as I had always done. Within a minute, I was outside of the stuffy house, a small trail of sand following me, just like always. All I did was walk around the almost empty streets of Suna, for the next few hours. It wasn't hard to just wipe all thoughts from my mind and focus on the normal background noise.

Then, suddenly a little girl was running in my direction and yelling, "Hey mister, do you think that you could get my ball for me?"

I looked around, and upon seeing nobody else in the area, I asked, "That depends. Do you know who you're talking to, right at this moment?"

She giggled and walked up to me. "Of course I know who I'm talking to, silly. I'm talking to you… that Shukaku guy who is always on the T.V. and can control sand or something. I don't' think that you're as dangerous as everyone says you are. Plus, if you really can control sand than you're the perfect person to get my ball for me."

I automatically rolled my eyes at the little girl's immature way of thinking but still didn't protest as she grabbed a hold of my wrist and started to drag me to where ever she lost her ball at. As it turned out, the ball was stuck in a nearby garden plant… on a balcony that was at least three stories from the ground. After pointing it out to me, all she did was stare at me, expectedly. I guess I really was the perfect candidate for a job such as this one. With a small sigh, I watched as the sand "carried" the ball like it was as light as a feather before dropping it in my hands.

"There you go, now don't go losing it again, alright? I'm not going to be around to get it out of there, next time, so you just don't go getting it stuck," I said, softly as I handed her the beat – up soccer ball.

"Oh, thank you, Mister Shukaku, sir! I'll definitely make sure that I don't lose it up there, next time. I really hope that you have a nice day. Today!" she told me, a giant smile gracing her face.

"Yuki, get the fuck away from that man! He's said to be very, very dangerous and could kill you at any minute! Him bringing you back here was probably just all a part of one of his evil plans!" a voice said from the other side of the small clearing shouted.

Both of us turned around to face the direction that voice had come from and I, at least, was not very pleased. There was an older woman standing there, glaring at me, of all people. She definitely was not the nicest person to look at with fizzy brown hair, puke green eyes, and with an extra 50 pounds or so. Suddenly, the woman decided that it would be a lot better idea to march right up to the two of us and slap the little girl, Yuki, right across the face. I watched silently, as Yuki flinched away from her mother and gently placed a hand on her stinging cheek.

"I know what you're planning now, you fucking little bitch! You were planning with this fucking Monster, here, to murder me so you could get your filthy little fingers on the rest of your mommy's money! Bitch, did you tell him he could have half of it, or are you going to whore yourself out to him?!" the mother accused, slapping her daughter across the face a second time and then a third.

Yuki took a hesitant step away from her mother and started shaking her head, whispering the word "no" to herself and to her mother. Moments later, water started to fall from girl's own green eyes and I wasn't sure if it was form the raw emotion or from the pain. Now, it was my turn, not hers.

My sand reached out in the exact moment that I willed it too, and grabbed a hold of the woman's wrist before she could slap her daughter a fourth time as I warned, "Excuse me, miss, but I but I do not take to people who beat their own children in front of me and then accuse them of whoring themselves out to me. Nor do I take to people who happen to… call me by a name that is not my given one. Please remember this for… future references."

The woman's eyes flickered over to me in a harsh glare, and she snarled, "Why the fuck should I treat a Freak, such as yourself with any sort of respect?! The respect you give to anybody else in this world is respect for those who have murdered others before yourself!"

My eyes narrowed dangerously as I instinctively raised one side of my upper lip to snarl back at her. Immediately, the sand started reacting to my own furious emotions and sought out the object of my rage. I could see her eyes widen at the sight of sand flowing along her whole body, her arms and legs in particular. All I had to do now was…

I walked out of the clearing, the little girl, Yuki, following closely behind me. I finished that last step as the image of a coffin came to my mind. Instantly, the only thing that you could hear for miles was screams of pain coming from where the woman had just stood, moments before. Yuki just stared wide eyed, and I swore that I saw a single tear escape from her eye. And then, just as fast as the screams had begun, they ended again, along with the woman's life.

"Th – thank you for everything that you've done for me, Mister Shukaku! I swear that I didn't deserve it, or at least that's what Mommy and Daddy had always told me. Thanks again, bye!" she rambled, before running off down the street.

I laughed softly at the small girl's foolishness of thanking the person the person who had just murdered their mother. It was then that I noticed the pinkish – orange hue that the sky had taken on. Where had the time gone? Wasn't it just a few hours ago that I had stood in my own house, fulfilling my "birthday tradition"? I gave up on pondering about it, and cleared my mind one last time before making my way back to the place that I unwillingly lived.

~.~

It was already mid – morning by the time that I "woke up" the next morning. It would have been a definite understatement if I had said that it been an unpleasant awakening. Though some would argue, it wasn't all that nice to wake up to the sun shining through the curtains. It took me less than 30 seconds to realize that something was a little off. On a normal day, Kankuro and Temari would have woken me up from their idiotic fights hours ago. Instead, I heard nothing, absolutely nothing and that worried me. More than it probably should have, even.

Hesitantly, I climbed out of my bed and made my way to the door. I was only wearing a pair of boxers but I knew that Temari and Kankuro would care seeming they should be the only ones in the house at the moment. I stopped at the door for only a brief moment to check for any sounds, once again. Hearing nothing, I opened the door and started walking down the stairs. I was moving quite slowly but I was still worried as I walked down into the living room. No one was there.

"There he is, grab him!" a chorus of voices shouted, all at once.

I didn't say anything as a group of 20 or so men came out of hiding places, all at different areas of the house. Glancing out the window I wasn't surprised to see at least another 50 men. Then all of them were coming at me, all at once, all of them with a gun in hand. I tried my best to fight against them as they stormed upon me but my sand was next to useless for anything besides defending me in a situation such as this one. A few men fell to ground, here and there, but as quick as they fell, two more were there to replace him. Sensing that there was almost no more point in fighting them, I gathered up the last of my energy to release one more attack. It was my only major attack at the moment, and it created a huge, violent sandstorm that could wipe out at least 30 men at a time, guns or no guns.

I was able to see the damage once the attack was finished. All of the furniture had been destroyed, all of the picture frames had gratefully fallen to the ground, the glass broken, and there were corpses scattered across the floor. None of the men that had been inside of this room seemed to have survived that last attack but still more men entered the building. Noting my own weak breathing and blurry eyesight, I let go of the rest of energy, there was no point in trying. I was only going to end up hurting myself more than I already had. I let out a few choice words before collapsing, now that I had no more energy, what so ever.

"Fuck you guys and the rest of your stupid government."

And then it was black and far, far too quiet for my liking. That is, except for that small, almost silent voice in the corner of my mind that never seemed to go away.

To Be Continued…


	3. Chapter 2

Wow, it's already been… about 2 weeks or so since I last updated this. I don't have really any excuses, not that I really need one, because… not much has happened. That is except for those 3 or 4 days of the week that I go out kayaking for a couple hours. Oh well, it's done and over with now, and unfortunately, I don't have the power to go back in time…

Thanks to everyone whose reviewed this story, and put it on their favourites or their story alert list. Expect the next chapter up… in less than a week and a half or so. Other than that, please review, whether it's criticism or anything else, just please don't flame.

~.~.~.~

_Going Down  
Chapter 2: Prison and Konoha_

The world was black… so very, very black. Nothing was visible except for the blackness of the dark and that was what this world was made out of. And here I was, in the middle of all of it, all of the black, not belonging with any of it. Yet, it seemed as I was supposed to be here… as if this was the way that it had to be, that I had purpose, for once. It wouldn't be long though, until something happens, until something changes this black, black abyss, so why don't I try to change it myself?

"Where and who are you? I'm not going to wait for you to play some messed up mind game with me, just to see how my mind works, whoever you are," I asked, speaking calmly to the darkness.

The response that I had wanted was immediate.

"He, aren't you a feisty one now? Guess there's at least someone who watches to make sure you're not walking down the street. So, what is it that you want, kid?" a voice asked me, seemingly from absolutely nowhere.

"You bastard, I just told you what I wanted, I'm sure that I don't need to repeat myself already. Now, answer my questions."

There was a cold, cruel laugh before he finally appeared in front of me. He was some sort of raccoon and dog mix, a tanuki, but it sort of looked like he was made from sand, had yellow eyes, and had black designs all along his "skin". Even now, as I looked upon a being that I had never seen before in my whole 22 years, I still felt the familiar feeling that I knew who this creature was. Several thoughts about the creature came to mind, one of them being that he should be a lot bigger than the size that he had appeared in front of me with.

"You still don't remember me, do you, Gaara? Well, that's too bad, then I'll just have to introduce myself to you a second time. My name is Shukaku, and I am the One – Tailed Beast!" the creature exclaimed.

"Shukaku…? That is completely impossible, that is the name that my own mother, Karura, gave me at my birth, just moments before her death," I commented, glaring at the beast in front of me.

"Heh, so it's as the Kyuubi had told me, after all. Well, kid, I'm so sorry to disappoint you and then break your little, fragile heart, but everyone lied to you about that one little fact. The name that your mother gave you when you were born was not Shukaku, it was Gaara."

I didn't respond, not finding a need to argue about this any further. Gaara. It sounded… right, and quickly, the name started to take a hold of my mind. It not only sounded right, it also felt right too, and suddenly, it was as if Shukaku had never been the name that I went by. Gone was the monster that the world had feared and known as Shukaku and in its place was another monster… although, a lot less fearsome as the last. This… monster's name was Gaara… Sabaku no Gaara.

"Well, kid, it looks like our time to talk for today is now up. Don't worry though, we can talk again soon, Gaara, sooner than you think, so don't miss me too much, okay?" the raccoon dog informed me.

"Hn," was all I got to say, as the black of the dark that was still completely surrounding me and everything else in this world finally disappeared and I was thrust back into reality.

~.~

"Hey, you fucking bastard, it's time for you to get up! You can't just go sleeping around all day, it's already noon," a guard snarled at me.

Slowly, I opened my eyes, mostly just to see where I was, exactly. Ignoring the idiot of a guard that _still_ seemed to be yelling at me, I looked around the place. It seemed like I was in a prison cell, or at least a temporary cell of the sort. It was just a small room with bar at the small window, and a very small bed, even the door seemed to be secured more than normal. I turned to the police man that was acting as a prison guard, once more. He, at least, should know the answer to the question on my mind, at the moment.

As I paid more attention to the man's yelling, I frowned at the man's choice of words, all of which were directed towards me. Finally, a few minutes later, I snarled, "I really don't give a shit about what you think of me, so stop with the annoying insults, or I might just have to do something about it," the guard froze, a look of terror on his face, "Now, what am I doing here? By all means, I really should not be alive at the moment."

This put the man back to the way he was before. "Heh, like someone like me would know the exact details," I glared at him, knowing that he must know something, "Uh, but seeming that you're absolutely clueless about why you're here, I'm sure that I could tell you the little information that I do know," I stopped glaring and was silent for a moment, waiting for him to continue, "Apparently, one of your siblings gave the police information about your whereabouts for a hefty amount of money. But… you aren't dead because some idiot thinks that you'll be better off alive and then they made sure that you were given proper treatment the moment you got here. Be grateful," the guard told me, spitting out the last two words.

"Hn, that actually explains more than absolutely nothing."

I ignored the guard as he muttered something to himself, something about this being a "drag" and went back to my own thoughts. To me, it was now obvious what had happened before I had lost consciousness, just by that small piece of information. Kankuro had finally decided that he and Temari needed money more than they needed their younger brother who has just happened to kill a few people. This didn't surprise or hurt me in any way. I knew that it was going to happen eventually, seeming I was the root of all their problems. Then, as for why I'm not dead, after my last attack, I didn't die just lost consciousness and then someone on the police force decided that they couldn't be off with me quite yet.

"Let me through, damn it! I don't care what your stupid supervisors told you about letting me in here, it's my fucking job to go and talk to the guy. I am the head of the department concerning all bijuu and jinchuuriki and I need to explain the situation to the jinchuuriki that you brought in just the other day!" a female shouted, rather loudly, at someone in the hallway.

Curiously, I paid attention to what was going on outside of my small, cramped cell, in the hallway. It wasn't quiet, by far, with the same female voice always being the loudest of all of them. There was a lot of cursing and I could tell that my guard was probably the only one that had _not_ left the cell they were in charge of. For a brief second, it was strangely quiet again, before my own door was slammed open, much to my own surprise, but not that it showed. The person standing there was a tall, busty blonde, who was standing tall with her arms crossed over her chest. Along with my guard (who had obviously stepped aside to just let her through) was another, who was holding his nose and leaning forward, ever so slightly.

"So, holder of the Shukaku, what is your real name? Well, that's assuming that you know what it is, after all," she asked, her brown eyes staring at me with all seriousness.

"…Sabaku no Gaara. And may I ask what your name is?" I inquired.

She laughed softly, as if being reminded of something, although her brown eyes still never left my own bluish – green ones. I knew that I wasn't going to be the one to pull away, however.

"My name would be Tsunade. I'm the head of the department that takes care of jinchuuriki, such as you. The reason that I'm here, though, is to explain to you, a jinchuuriki and a murderer, what position you in, exactly."

"What do you mean by 'jinchuuriki'? Personally, I've never even come across that term before."

"Heh, that's actually not too surprising, according to Naruto, whose a jinchuuriki such as yourself, Shukaku is one lazy bijuu. A jinchuuriki is someone who has a bijuu, a demon of sorts, sealed inside of them. There's nine of you in this world at the moment but this is also the most that there's been in, at least, a hundred years now."

"I… understand this now. But you implied something about my situation being different from a normal person's, at the moment?"

"Yes, your situation at the moment is not of your stereotypical murderer's. I would say something like that your sentence has been lessened but that would be a lie. Your sentence itself will be for life, but I doubt that you'll spend more than 6 months here, at your first time. The Akatsuki and jinchuuriki never seem to actually stay in jail. The amount of time that you spend in prison each time, will probably lessen, until you're older and just don't want to give the effort. Now, let me be clear, we do not just let you out into the public, it will be your own job to escape from the prison that you're being sent to."

"I see. So, you're version of letting us go live our lives is to make it very easy to escape from our prison, that you're most likely in charge of and then to see to it that we aren't immediately chased after."

Tsunade laughed slightly, making me narrow my bluish – green eyes at her. A moment later, she looked at me straight in the eyes once more and then had the nerve to smirk at me.

"Now, whoever said anything about escaping being easy? I sure didn't say that. We're going to make this as hard as possible for all of you. Hmm, consider it a test of sorts, and both the jinchuuriki and the Akatsuki have to take it."

I stared at the odd woman in confusion from her last comment. The Akatsuki were just a myth to scare little kids into behaving well, weren't they? Still, before she could answer my unasked question, she walked away with this look on her face that practically screamed that I'd find out sometime later. Well, damn, I didn't want to find out later, I wanted to find out now.

~.~

It wasn't a big surprise, for some reason, when I found out that we, as in the jinchuuriki, weren't allowed to have any sort of trial. So, when Tsunade came back to my temporary cell the next day to tell me that, she was the one being surprised, instead of me. However, I was surprised to find out that I was going to be leaving the prison here in Suna, for the far more secure one all the way in Konoha, which was more than a 2 day drive away from where we are now. I had thought that Suna had kept the jinchuuriki and the Akatsuki that they had captured to themselves but I was quickly proven wrong.

So, here I was, sitting in a small car (that luckily had good air conditioning) with my wrist hand cuffed to the armrest on the door. We were currently driving through Konoha, at long last, and already I could tell the difference between the hot, dry weather in Suna and the cooler, normal weather in Konoha. Too bad that I'd be locked up in a prison during at least the majority of my stay here. Not that this wouldn't have happened sooner or later. I had found out that if I hadn't committed some sort of crime before the age of 24, that they would have had me arrested anyways and then created something up for the public.

"Hey, kid, we're here now, any last words before you walk into that prison for at least the next few months? Or would you rather just walk right in there without a second look at the outside world?" the now familiar voice of Tsunade asked me.

"I'd rather do things a different way and look around while I enter this place. The best of both options, the way that I see it," I answered, looking out the window.

"Heh, I understand that, when you've lived in the desert all of your life."

I merely nodded and waited for a moment for Tsunade to get out of her car and unlock the handcuffs. After that was done and over with, I walked out of the car, a small trail of sand following me, as always. As I had promised, I looked out at the world as I walked up to the prison. The sakura blossoms were beautiful at this time of year, especially to someone who had never seen them outside of a book before, and the partially cloudy sky was definitely a nice change. I didn't really take my time, so within a minute; I was walking inside of the front doors of the place, the rest of the world now behind me. The lobby was like any other, except that the usually cheery secretary was replaced with a sullen police man. Tsunade was quick to enter too, only a moment or two behind myself.

The blond woman smiled at me before saying, "Welcome to the Konoha Prison for the Highly Dangerous. I'm sure that you'll… enjoy your possibly brief time here."

To Be Continued…


	4. Chapter 3

I'm so sorry for this taking about two weeks to get up... I have a resonable excuse though. My dad just had a kidney trasplant about 3 weeks ago, and my family has been really busy since then. Just to let you guys know, it is a good thing, and everything's going perfectly... for once. It's the first time in 4/5 years that things have gone absolutely perfect like this...

Disclaimer: I own Naruto... yeah, how about not? If I did then... well... the drawings would be crappy, the storyline would have more yaoi... and who knows what else.

~.~.~.~

_Going Down  
Chapter 3: Akatsuki and Naruto_

"Get your roommate to show you around here when he finally shows up here, later on. If he decides that he doesn't like you, at all, and refuses to listen to you, tell him that it's an order from me. You shouldn't have to worry about him all that much, though. You should get along at the very least though; he's a jinchuuriki, just like you. Have fun, kid," Tsunade told me, a smirk on her face.

I merely nodded, choosing to ignore the strange look that she had on her face. She had showed me to my new cell, which at least looked a lot more comfortable than the one in Suna had. However, I had been immediately informed that I wasn't allowed to leave the cell until my new roommate showed up here. The Akatsuki and the jinchuuriki had their own part of the jail, isolated from the rest of the place, so we could walk around as we pleased and not be able to easily escape or talk to any of the prisoners in the other part of the prison. This didn't make it any easier to escape though, there were heavy security measures at the one and only exit / entrance to this area.

I went and lay down on the bed that was actually made, compared to the messy bunch of blankets on the other one, closing my eyes. It only took me a few moments to clear all of my thoughts and go into a state of meditation. I hadn't slept in years now, I was an insomniac. I sighed and focused on what was going on around me. The slight draft, the blanket underneath me, the somehow homely feel to the room… Suddenly, it was completely black, the faint light from through my eyelids now completely gone. There was nothing in sight now, except for Shukaku standing in front of me.

"Heh, it's so nice to see you, Gaara. It's been, what, a couple days, at the most?" Shukaku asked me.

"Shukaku… for what reason have you called me here for? I know for a fact that I didn't come to this place of my own free will," I question.

"Hmm, the only reason that you're here for is because I sensed that you had some questions about jinchuuriki and the like. You have only seen me a couple days ago but this is the first time that you've gone into this state not out of complete need to. So, would you care to explain to me what your questions are?"

I only paused to think about it for a quick moment before replying, "My only questions are what a bijuu is and what a jinchuuriki is? I want to know the actual answer though, not just some crap answers like saying that jinchuuriki are people like me and that… spirits, such as you, are bijuu."

"Those are actually some pretty smart questions to ask, kid. Let's start with the easier one of those questions to answer, the bijuu. A bijuu is a rare type of demon, you could say. We're extinct now, with the exception of nine of us, and that's including me. Simply, bijuu are demons of different types of animals, such as the tanuki for me. Then thousands of – oh shit hid, looks like you have to go. Some idiot is trying to get you out of the state that you're in right now."

Before I even had the chance to glare at Shukaku for cutting his crappy explanation short, the darkness was gone, and it was replaced by a barrage of light and colour that describes the day. My questions were still mostly unanswered, much to my own extreme displeasure.

~.~

"Hey, what the fucking hell was that for, you fucking bastard! You aren't supposed to just go and attack someone just because they're within 5 feet of you, whether you're conscious or not!" a man's voice shouted at me.

I opened my eyes, a small frown already barely visible on my face. The idiotic man that was still yelling at me was a blonde man, who seemed to be only about a year or so older than me. His blue eyes were shining with anger as he continued as he continued to shout at me for "attacking" him. He had probably been an idiot and tried to touch me somehow, causing my sand to lash out at him in a rage. He didn't seem to notice however as I started to glare at him, pieces of sand starting to react to my sudden violent mood.

"Would you fucking shut up already? I'm already sick and tired of you yelling at me. Not to mention that I had been trying to talk before you came in here and then disturbed my sleep," I growled the sand around now surrounding me in a protective but threatening manner.

"Hey, I'm sorry about that – Wait! You should be the one to apologize, not me. You were the one that had attacked me! You apologize about that, now!" the blonde shouted.

"I don't have to apologize about something that's completely out of my control. You must have approached me and then made physical contact with me in some way, causing my defenses to attack you. Seeming my defenses act on its own accord, it was your own fault."

The blonde looked hesitant for a moment but then seemed to give into my way of thinking. Good, it was better to have a roommate that wasn't mad at me in some way, than one that was mad at me. And he seemed to be a hassle already, not even five minutes into me knowing him.

"Fine, I see your point now. But that doesn't mean that I won't keep my eye on you. Oh, that's right; I haven't introduced myself to you yet. I'm Naruto Uzumaki, the current holder of Kyuubi and some day very soon, I'll be the Hokage of Konoha!" the blonde exclaimed.

Naruto… Uzumaki? I studied the blonde, before realizing just where I had heard that name from. He was the exact same person that had been at my high school for a day before being dragged away by the police. This boy, no, this man was so obviously determined, and strong, that there was no way that he deserved the title of a jinchuuriki. The most important of all though, he was completely different from me, a monster, a freak, and more than deserving of the title with the things that I've done in my lifespan. He was someone that was capable of achieving that dream he had and then by doing just that, he was making the world a better place.

"Interesting… You went to my high school for a day. Actually, if I remember correctly, weren't you dragged away kicking and screaming, by the police. The whole school was watching as you failed at trying to get away from them," I asked him, with fake politeness.

"Yeah, that would have been me. That would have been the bigger of the high schools in Suna, right?" I nodded, "He he, that's some fond memories right there. I had known about the Kyuubi for quite a while by then and had just escaped from this place for the first time. Probably shouldn't have enrolled back into school at all. The exact same thing had happened with Ukataka, only he wasn't dragged away like I was… And he lasted a lot longer than I did… somewhere around 2 years longer or something around there, he he."

He smiled sheepishly at me, not really ashamed that he had only lasted a day at my old school. Or, he was really good at hiding it. I rolled my eyes and lay down of the bed, which was definitely a lot more comfortable than the bed at the Suna prison. However, as I glanced back up at Naruto, I saw that a look of realization was on his face. Even though I had only known the loud blonde for a few minutes, I had already figured out that this was not a good thing.

"Oh, yeah! You're new here so you don't know anyone! Come on, I'll introduce you to all of the Akatsuki and jinchuuriki that are here at the prison, right now!" he exclaimed, grabbing onto my wrist.

The blonde jinchuuriki then continued to drag me out of the cell, and he did so a bit too eagerly. It must not be very often that someone that was completely new came to this place… or at least, I hoped that was true. Sighing, I closed my eyes and continued to let Naruto half drag me down the hallway to where ever the rest of the people were.

Finally, he stopped once we reached a certain door, and said, "Please don't freak out when you see the Akatsuki. There's two teams of two here right now… but every single member of the Akatsuki had been experimented on in one way or another. There's three other jinchuuriki here right now too."

"And why would I freak out over some people that aren't you stereotypical murderers or some other type of criminal? From my point of view, it seems that I'm not normal in the slightest, that's I'm some sort of monster. So, to me, there would be no point in freaking out over people who are just like me," I commented.

Naruto stopped smiling the moment that I said that I wasn't normal, and he seemed very stiff, as if I had offended in one way or another. "How could you even begin to think something like that? You're a normal human being, just like everyone else in this world! Just because you have some stupid control over sand from a fucking bijuu, doesn't mean that you should be treated any differently or that you should treat yourself any differently! Besides, it's because of the cruelty of humans that you're not the exact same as everyone else. So why do you think that you're a freak, monster, or anything else like that?" he shouted at me.

"I think this way because it's the truth, I am a freak, and it was nothing to do with being a bijuu or anything else like that," I commented, walking into the room.

Naruto followed behind me, quietly as I looked around the room at the different people in the room. As he had said, there were 7 people in the room. There was a group of four at one table that seemed closer than the other three were. They consisted of a red haired guy, a blonde guy, a man wearing a mask, and a man with silver hair. I guessed that these people were probably the Akatsuki. The other three at the other table were, without a doubt, the jinchuuriki. They consisted of a black man with white hair, a brunet wearing a blue outfit, and a green haired girl with pale pink eyes. A voice in the back of my mind told me that these people were the Rokubi, Nanabi, and Hachibi.

A hand grabbed a hold of my wrist and I looked beside me to see that the loud, happy, idiotic Naruto was back again. And, by the looks of it, he was leading me over to the table that the Akatsuki were currently sitting at.

"Hey guys, this is Gaara, the newly found jinchuuriki. His bijuu is the Shukaku, just to let you guys know. Gaara, there are the four members of the Akatsuki that are actually here right now. Don't worry though, you'll get to meet the rest of them at some point in time," Naruto introduced, happily.

The blonde guy looked over at me, smirked and said, "Hey there, Gaara, I'm Deidara, un."

The red head was the next one to start to pay attention to me, and now that we were standing closer to him, I immediately recognized him. He used to be student at my old high school, about 6 years ago. He was Akasuna no Sasori, a master in puppetry, a man who used to be my senior, and one of my only friends at the time.

"Gaara," he said, with a slight nod.

The next person sitting at the table was the man with silver hair. He stared at me, distastefully before he said, "Heh, my name is Hidan."

The last person was the man wearing a mask; he was simply staring at me intensely, not even saying a word. I stared back, and within a few seconds, he nodded at me. We had reached an agreement almost immediately.

"Uh, and that's Kakuzu," Naruto commented.

I nodded and started to walk over to the other table, where the jinchuuriki were sitting. Naruto stuttered for a small moment, and quickly excused me and him before running to catch up to me. The jinchuuriki all turned their heads as we walked up to their small group, their eyes immediately searching me.

"Everyone, this is Gaara, he has Shukaku sealed in him, as you all should know by now. Shukaku actually just appeared to him a couple of days ago now, but he's been able to control sand for…," Naruto said, trailing off at the end.

"It's been a long time, and let's just leave it at that," I but in, finishing his unfinished statement.

"Heh, you shouldn't even start worrying about it, none of us will even begin to question you about anything in your past, unless it involves ourselves. It's just not something that we do here. My name is Ukataka, I'm the host for the Rokubi," the man that was wearing the blue outfit told me, reassuringly.

"My name is Fu. My bijuu is Nanabi," the girl with short green hair and pale pink eyes told me, with a big smile.

"The name's Killerbee, yo! My bijuu is Hachibi!" the black man with white hair exclaimed.

"Hn," was all that I said in response.

Quietly, I walked back over to the table that the Akatsuki were sitting at and sat down in the empty seat beside Sasori. Naruto didn't' even bother to say goodbye to the other jinchuuriki and followed me, taking a seat across from me, and beside Hidan. For some reason, being with the Akatsuki seemed more natural than being with the other jinchuuriki.

~.~

Why did Naruto have to snore so loudly? This was most likely a question that anyone who had ever shared a room with him has asked, at some point in time. The blonde man wasn't just loud while he was awake; he was also loud while he was sleeping. I thought back for a moment to something that Sasori had asked me earlier. Ear plugs. I was going to have to take him up on that offer sometime before tomorrow night.

The rest of the afternoon had gone by quite well. I had listened to the Akatsuki talk for a good few hours after sitting down, even during dinner, which was delivered to us in that room. I know though that if they didn't' understand the abuse that all of us have gone through; things would have turned out a lot differently. But they did and I had a feeling that I might not be so absolutely horrible.

To Be Continued…


End file.
